KUALA LUMPUR: Stepping into the political arena with the support of a formidable mentor, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman brought with him a promise of change.
He sparked hope, especially to the younger generation who saw in him a champion for a cleaner, corruption-free political landscape.
The outcome of today's court ruling, however, would be a turning in his journey.
"The real victim(s) in this case is Muda (political party) and the younger generation that look up to Syed Saddiq," said Nusantara Academy for Strategic Research senior fellow Prof Dr Azmi Hassan.
Syed Saddiq, a three-time winner of the Asian British Parliamentary Debating Championship's Asia Best Speaker award, made history when he was elected as one of the youngest cabinet ministers, securing the position at the age of 25.
He also stands as the third youngest member of parliament since Malaysia gained independence after Prabakaran Parameswaran and Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
Asked whether Syed Saddiq's meteoric rise in politics could have cost him this time, Azmi, however, disagrees.
"I don't think it's because he is gullible. He is old enough to know that this is wrong and you can get caught.
"Even our experienced politicians also fall into the same trap- too gullible, too confident that they won't get caught," he said.
At 31, Syed Saddiq is the youngest member of parliament to be sentenced to jail. He is also the first politician to face a whipping sentence after being found guilty of corruption.
The High Court sentenced him to a three-year jail term and one stroke of the cane for abetting criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM1 million of the Bersatu Youth (Armada)'s funds.
The former minister is also facing two years imprisonment and one stroke of the cane for misusing property for himself, namely RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise.
Judge Datuk Azhar Abdul Hamid also imposed two years imprisonment and a fine of RM10 million in default four years for two money laundering charges.
However, Syed Saddiq is now safe from the sentence as the court allowed his application for a stay of execution pending appeal.
On July 22, 2021, Syed Saddiq was charged, as the then Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia Armada wing chief who was entrusted with control of Armada funds, with abetting Bersatu assistant treasurer Rafiq Hakim Razalifor in committing criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM1 million of the organisation's funds.
He was also charged with misusing property for himself, namely RM120,000 from the Maybank Islamic Bhd account belonging to Armada Bumi Bersatu Enterprise, by causing Rafiq to dispose of the money.
In his other charges, he was guilty of two counts of money laundering in two transactions of RM50,000, believed to be proceeds of unlawful activities, from his Maybank Islamic Bhd account into his Amanah Saham Bumiputera account.